When clickbait and personal attacks crowd out substance, our community loses. Attention shifts away from the decisions that will shape Newport’s future, while outrage becomes a profitable commodity. Newport deserves sober leadership, fair scrutiny and honest debate — not manufactured controversy.
Recently, Newport City Council candidates received questionnaires that, according to several candidates, varied significantly in both content and tone. These differences have raised legitimate concerns about fairness, relevance and the standards being applied to those seeking public office.
I had reservations about participating from the outset. After speaking with fellow candidates, those concerns have only grown. Newport should expect public discourse that strengthens our community, respects the people who serve it, and keeps the focus where it belongs: on the future of our city.
A candidate questionnaire should help voters evaluate judgment, qualifications and policy priorities. It should not become an exercise in humiliation or an opportunity to discredit individuals through insinuation. Tough questions are an essential part of journalism. Questions built around rumor, innuendo or personal attacks undermine the public’s ability to engage in meaningful debate.
Of particular concern are reports that female candidates received questions that appeared intended to embarrass or discredit them, while male candidates reportedly faced more routine inquiries. If these accounts are accurate, the disparity warrants serious reflection. Every candidate is entitled to the same standard of fairness, regardless of gender, political perspective or personal differences.
Journalism serves a vital public purpose when it holds candidates accountable for their positions, decisions and qualifications. That responsibility carries an obligation to distinguish legitimate scrutiny from tactics that needlessly damage reputations.
Ultimately, the public is owed more responsible reporting. Our community needs a political culture in which substantive questions take precedence over personal attacks, and meaningful solutions matter more than manufactured conflict.
I chose to respond only to the question most directly relevant to the responsibilities of a Newport city councilor at-large:
What’s the number one issue facing Newport, and what do you plan to do to address it over the next two years?
Newport has significant opportunities and serious challenges, but too many issues are met with talk and factional conflict instead of practical action. The growing divide between political camps is seriously impairing our ability to address opportunities and problems in a timely manner.
I offer something different: an independent, practical approach focused on results. I’ll work across those divides, ask the hard questions, study best practices, and bring people together around a healthier Newport — a stronger, more diversified economy, responsible development, effective city services, and a better future for residents.
Over the next two years, I’ll focus on a tourism management plan that shares the benefits of our visitor economy fairly and sets a path toward collaborative stewardship of this very special city. Tourism should work for the people who live here, not just those who profit from it.
Less factionalism. Less rhetoric. Faster action. Serious oversight. Tangible results.
Elizabeth Cullen
Newport. Cullen is a candidate for Newport City Council at-large.
